On the day in question, the four seniors, packing cellophane bags of caramel corn, presented themselves at the circus tent early to take their seats in the back row of the floor section adjacent to the centre ring. A family of four was in the front row, trying to settle twin four-year-old boys each seized with fear at being so close to the action. Hank studied the scene as if this were one of the circus acts.
Read More Ditchmoss – by Andrew ShaughnessyWe queue up with all the semis, car carriers full of souped-up SUVs, reefers of Mexican spinach and sweet peas, empty logging trucks, and full livestock trailers. And us, with our secret cargo.
Read More Where We Have to Go – by Lindsey HarringtonThere was no trailhead. Rather, I should say that if there was a trailhead, we couldn’t find it. I grabbed the metallic tube that my parents called a ‘torch’ to join Bill in the search. I flicked it on only to realize that, compared to Bill’s floodlight, my flashlight had the candlepower of, well, a candle.
Read More Little Cabin in the Woods – by Andrew ShaughnessyI climb the narrow staircase to the mow of my father’s barn, the wooden steps worn smooth by man. Thin, winter sunlight streams, like shards of glass through the cracks between the wallboards. My aged parents are away. My purpose here is to feed the cats, the only welcomed creatures of this barn. There are […]
Read More The Silent Barn – by Dawn Beecroft TeetzelMama pulls down the attic ladder.Smell of dust and moth balls.I tug on her apron strings. I want to play.Clothespins click and clack.Papa’s shirts float down—flat gullsthat crumple in her basket.Alone on a shelf, a vase,sea snakes frozen in its porcelain.Their skins gleam wet.Don’t touch that!It’s a wedding present from Yvonne.Mama tells me how they […]
Read More Nobody to Hold Her Back – by Atma FransHe’d shake your hand as though he were pulling a weed.
And when I turned twelve he taught me how to
see through the soiled promises of earthly negotiations.
I hold the envelope in my hands, the pressure in my chest building, threatening to engulf me. I know Natalie would have wrestled with sending it, not wanting to hurt me, but ultimately deciding she didn’t want to risk excluding me.
Read More Where Liam Sleeps Tonight – by Lori GreenIf ever there was a day for an invitation not to arrive, that day would have been the day of my grandmother’s funeral.
Read More Square Knot – by Andrew ShaughnessyWhispered conferences took place while Clarice slept.
“What’s the plan for today?”
Read More A Life on Fire – by Lindsey Harrington
Off Topic Publishing 